The present invention relates to a gravity drainage cord.
When draining wounds, the most recent drainage tubes, which entail the presence of low- or high-vacuum mechanical aspiration units, tend to clog due to the presence of clots of blood or other organic substances: accordingly, it is necessary to periodically use devices known as tube squeezers, which cause discomfort and suffering to patients.
It is also known to drain wounds by using a simple cotton gauze which protrudes slightly from the wound and conveys outside the liquid components, allowing faster cicatrization: this system derives from a method used since the days of the ancient Egyptians.
However, the use of cords of rolled-up gauze causes severe pain to the patient during extraction from the wound, since the gauze tends to bond with the walls of the wound.
Additionally, since the material that constitutes the gauze is not very strong, fragments of particles often break off and contaminate the wound, especially during the extraction of the drainage.
The aim of the present invention is to obviate the cited drawbacks of conventional devices, i.e., to devise a gravity drainage cord which does not leave residues in the wound even during extraction, does not clog up in the presence of organic residues or clots and does not cause pain to the patient during extraction, since it is completely free and does not bond to the walls of the wound.
Within the scope of this aim, an object of the present invention is to provide a structure which is simple, relatively easy to provide in practice, safe in use, effective in operation and relatively low in cost.
These and other objects are achieved by the present gravity drainage cord, characterized in that it is formed by braiding a plurality of strands of silk of the type used for surgical sutures, and in that in the median region it is fitted loosely in a tubular sheath made of a material such as silicone which is adapted to facilitate sliding with respect to tissues, increases biocompatibility and allows optional coupling to mechanical aspiration units.